Apparatus for forming headstones from plastic material.



. c. c. wnmo. APPABATUS FOR FORMING HEADSTONES mom PLASTIC MATERIAL.

. APPLICATION PI LED APB.15, 1908. 918,241 Patented Apr. 13, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

. say 2.

IN VE N TOR CHRISTOPHER (lwmeo,

VBYM

- ATTORNEYS WITNESSES N c. c.- wmeo. v APPARATUS FOR FORMING BEADSTONES FROM PLASTIG MATERIAL.

AIPPLIGATIOY FILED A PB.15, 1908.

Patented Apr. 13, 1909.

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INVENTOH CHRISTOPHER C. W'meo,

WITNESSES A TTOHNEYS- CHRISTOPHER G. WINGO, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

APPARATUS FOR FORMING HEADSTONES FROM PLASTIC IVIATERIAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 13, 1909.

Application filed April 15, 1908. Serial No. 427,229.

To all :whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, CHRISTOPHER C.

TVVINGO, a citizen of the United States, re-

siding at Baltimore, in the State of Mary- Apparatus for Forming Headstones from Plastic Material, of which the following is a 5 be laid upon a base-board, or plate, 11, and

specification.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a cheap and useful substitute for marble head-stones or tomb-stones, and for wall tablets, or inscription plates, etc. To this end, I form the same from hydraulic cement, which, as is well known, becomes exceedingly hard and is practically indestructible.

My invention is an improved means for forming such head-stones, tomb-stones, tablets, or inscription plates, and providing them with letters required to indicate the name of the decedent, the date of birth, and death, or other particulars.

The invention is embodied in the construction, arrangement, and combination of parts forming my improved apparatus, as herein after set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a plan perspective of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3' is-a perspective view illustrating the arrangement of letters in connection with the plates forming the bacir or bottom of the mold. .;Fig. l is a perspective view of one of the letters. Figs. 5 and 5 are longitudinal sections illustrating certain steps in the molding operation. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a tablet or inscription plate formed according to my "ivention. Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section of such a tablet or plate.

The mold or molding apparatus illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 is formed of the following parts. There is an outer rectangular frame composed of parallel side bars 1, and transverse or end bars 2, the latter being preferably mortised into the former. The ends of the side bars 1 project beyond the cross bars 2, and are connected by tie-rods 3 whose ends are screw-threaded and have nuts 4 applied thereto. l l ithin the frame thus produced there is a second series of bars 55 and 66, and within these again are strips 7, whose meeting ends are mitered, and whose function will be further described.

The bottom of the molding apparatus consists of a series of thin boards or plates 8 l l l which are laid parallel, their ends abutting the longer sides of the molding frame, and their slde edges being separable by spaces adapted to receive short bars 9 formed on land, have mvented an Improvement 111* the head of all the letters 10; see especially Figs. 3 and 4.

All the parts described may, in practice,

secured thereto by screws 11 but it is to be understood, that, in practice, the said parts may rest upon any suitable flat foundation.

In order to produce a tablet or inscription plate, say such as represented in igs. 6 and 7, the proper letters are selected to spell the name, the date of birth, the date of death, etc, and the letters are properly arranged on the bottom boards 8 with the blocks 9 inserted between the adjacent ones, as shown by a single instance in 1. All the vacant spaces between the boards 8 which are not filled by the bars 9 of the several letters are filled by means of separate or independent blocks, so that the whole bed or bottom of the mold presents a plain or flat surface, interrupted only oy the body of the letters which project above it. lt will be noted that all the letters are beveled in such a way as to facilitate their withdrawal from the cement in the final operation.

The plastic material, to wit, hydraulic or Portland cement, being mixed in the proper manner and to the pro )er consistency, is poured into the rectangu ar space provided by the mold frame and covers the entire bed or bottom and fills the same up to the top of the border strips 7. The material is left in the mold until it becomes duly hardened. so it may be handled with safety. in order to hold the inner bars 5 and 6, and the border strips 7 tightly in place, clamp-screws 12 are inserted through the outer bars 1 and 2, and abut, or b ear against, the second set of bars 5 and 6, as plainly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Supposing now that the material has duly hardened, the mold with the material filling the same is turned over, and, the screws 11, 12, and rods 3 being loosened, the rectangular frame may be readily removed and then the bottom boards or plates 8, so that the letters alone will be left adhering to the molded block. It will be understood, however, that the bars 9 projecting from the heads of the letters, will stand above the face of the molded block, and that they may be seized by the thumb and finger for removing the letters from the said block, which operation may be effected without difficulty by reason of the bevel of the letters, It will now be apparent that the face of'the block or plate thus molded is provided with. depressions or sockets in the form of letters, as will be understood by reference to Fig. 7.

The next step or operation is to fill the sockets or spaces formed by the letters, and for this purpose I use a cement or plastic material of a color contrasting with that of the block proper; for example, the cement used to fill the letter sockets may be black, and will thus form a strong contrast with the gray or light background. The sockets having been filled with the colored material, the face of a block is smoothed off, and, when the material is hardened, may be polished as required.

As shown in Fig. 6, a border extends around the rectangular tablet or inscription plate and this oorder may have a different color from the body or the plate. For example, it may be black, the same as the letters. In order to form such border, I employ the strips 7, before referred to, and these, as indicated in E igs. 5 and 5", are each divided longitudinally into two parts. The object of this construction will now appear; that is to say, in ig. 5, one-half of strip 7 is shown removed, and cement x of a color suitable to form the border of the tablet or inscription plate has been filled into the space previously occupied by the strip section. W hen the cement x is duly hardened, the remaining portion of the strip 7 is lifted out of place, and colored cement is filled into its place 7 as indicated in Big. 5. Thus a border 1n one or more contrasting colors, as may be deslred, is formed around the body ratus, I may form an entire head-stone or tomb-stone, it being only necessary to construct the molding apparatus of due aroportions. In brief, I produce a small ta"let or inscription plate suitable for attachment to a headstone or tomb-stone of large dimensions, or I may form the head-stone or tomb-stone itself entire; in either case, I provide a very inexpensive and durable substi-' tute for head-stones or tomb-stones in general. use.

What I claim is:

The improved molding apparatus for forming inscription plates for headstones, cont prising the rectangular outer frame comosed of bars 1 the inner frame formed of bars a 5 and 6, and the two-part border strips 7 ar ranged within and in contact with the bars 5,. 6, the bottom boards 8, which are adapted for adjustment in the inclosure formed by the border strips, and beveled letters provided with downwardly projecting head bars 9 adapted for insertion between the bottom boards, as shown and described.

CHRISTOPHER C. WINGS.

Witnesses Ronenns O. KNIGHT, ARTHUR E. JUsTroE.

On the other hand, 

